it's good pho you

I have always mostly considered Vietnamese food a treat and for a while, whenever we went out with our mom, she would take us to eat Pho. And Pho actually tastes different depending on who prepares it for you. Back in Fullerton, a lot of the Pho restaurants were owned by Koreans so the broth had garlic, loads of onions and great hot sauces on the side. And my dad has been to some Pho houses in DC and he said that they were prepared by Chinese and so there was also a distinct flavor there. I'm not really sure how true Vietnamese food tastes like, but Le Saigon was pretty good.
The restaurant was small, but cozy...an intimate type of atmosphere. I'm not too sure where the French flair fell into play besides the menu (it wasn't the typical greasy, one-page Asian menus...you know what I'm talking about) and the BYOB concept. Oh and it was a bit pricey of a bowl of noodles...about $8, but it's LA. Nonetheless, what I absolutely loved about our dining experience with the cousins was not only their company, but also looking at what other people were eating.

BUT FIRST!! what we ate:
Tina and I both got soup noodle. I went for my Vietnamese usual: Pho with well-done brisket while Tina got a chicken-base Pho. She said that the taste is distinct from the typical beef broth and Mei concurred with that. There were onions, scallions, and cilantro with of course the side plates of bean sprouts, lime and basil. It was really good! The beef was creamy and literally melted in your mouth and the noodles were thinner than what I am usually used to and it held the broth pretty well. It was flavorful, but didn't leave a nasty aftertaste in the mouth like some other places that I have been to. It was also really filling--I wasn't able to finish it.

Jill also had noodles, but it was a dry dish that also came with imperial rolls, grilled pork, and that vinegary sauce to pour over the noodles. It had peanuts, or else I would have tried it! It looked really good though and of course, we finished the evening with yummy Pinkberry. I like my yogurt with just blueberries. Why blueberries you may ask? Well, because that's the most individual pieces of fruit per order. haha but pinkberry is always really generous with the toppings. mmm.

Anyways, like I was saying, I saw some other people were making their own rolls with rice-paperlike wraps and choices of their fillings which included bean sprouts, carrots, basil, meat or tofu and it looked really good. Perhaps this is a lesson to step out of my comfort level and try new things out of my "usual" or "ordinary". Perhaps this was the French aspect of the restaurant in their way of saying "c'est la vie"